Home support workers expected to strike at 8 a.m.
Posted Feb 28, 2014 06:54:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Home support workers in Halifax are set to hit the picket line today, although the walkout is likely to be brief.
That’s because Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has recalled the legislature and is promising to bring in legislation making home-care workers an essential service.
The aim is to swiftly end the scheduled walkout.
Home-support workers who supply services provided by Northwood Homecare and those working for the Victorian Order of Nurses would be affected by the law, which was released in draft form yesterday.
The legislation also lists several locals of home-support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The law would require the province and the union to attempt to work out who is considered an essential worker, and if agreement isn’t reached the matter is sent to the Nova Scotia Labour Board.
Premier Stephen McNeil says non-essential workers could still go on strike under the legislation after an essential services plan is completed.
Union president Joan Jessome says employees she represents at Northwood will go on strike at 8 a-m and remain out until the new law forces them to return to work.
